The truth about a complex built for veterans and the middle class and how it has evolved through the years to become one of the more interesting and controversial of New York stories.

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Saturday, July 7, 2012

Just Trying to Help

Things are too negative around here. It appears that the chefs at Oval Cafe are having a hard time preparing peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, as this tasty American fare has been in the "Coming Soon" category since the Oval Cafe opened. So in a positive, friendly gesture we present for the Oval Cafe crew instructions on how to make the classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich (courtesy wikiHow).

Ingredients:

Bread (usually two slices to make a sandwich)
Peanut Butter
Jam or Jelly

Spread peanut butter onto one slice of bread:

Spread jam or jelly onto the other slice of bread:

Assemble your sandwich by putting the two slices of bread together. (Note: the peanut butter and jam/jelly sides should be facing each other.)....

Voilà! The classic Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich that you can now serve to your eager customers!...

41 comments:

The crucial step that some miss is that they do NOT face the peanut butter side with the jam/jelly side. I've seen so many ruined PB&J sandwiches where the chef flips the slices the other way, causing a real mess.

Very helpful information! Maybe "Just Trying to Help" could become a standing weekly feature of The Stuyvesant Town Report. Future installments could include, "How to Effectively Enforce the 80% Carpet Rule" and I'm sure there are many others.

Rejoice!Rose & Company are applying for a new MCI.Apparently they say adding peanut butter and jelly to white bread is a major capial improvement and they want to pass the cost along to the tenants.Also any unsold chicken fingers will be generously donated to Beth Israel Hospital for use in digital rectal exams!What superb management we have!

If the place is sold, it's for sure that any sponsor will want to own the 'commercial' space & we'll have very little say about that. When we hear 'commercial', we think of the peripheries: garages & the stores on 1st, 14th & 20th, Ave C. But what about concessions opening up within the complex? I would be prepared to fight very hard against the sponsor owning these. I think we all should fight against this. Eventually when the tenant owners run the board, we should control everything within the complex. And we should collect the rent for these and apply the funds against maintenance costs.Another thought. Dog ownership will impact the grounds. Dogs will have an effect on the lawns and on the shrubs. It isn't fair that non-dog owners should have to pay such costs. Therefore, dog owners should pay a fee to own a dog witin the complex, a fee that is kept & applied strictly for grounds maintenance.

Very helpful information! Maybe "Just Trying to Help" could become a standing weekly feature of The Stuyvesant Town Report. Future installments could include, "How to Effectively Enforce the 80% Carpet Rule" and I'm sure there are many others.

Other topics I would like to humbly propose:

1. Tow to dispose of garbage down the chute2. "Clogging," it's not OK to do in an apartment3. Where to pee? Toilet or stairwell?4. OK, so I threw up in the bushes. What now?5. Ice skating--why we don't do it in the summertime and why we shouldn't have to listen to it in the winter...

"If the place is sold, it's for sure that any sponsor will want to own the 'commercial' space & we'll have very little say about that. When we hear 'commercial', we think of the peripheries: garages & the stores on 1st, 14th & 20th, Ave C. But what about concessions opening up within the complex? I would be prepared to fight very hard against the sponsor owning these. I think we all should fight against this. Eventually when the tenant owners run the board, we should control everything within the complex. And we should collect the rent for these and apply the funds against maintenance costs.Another thought. Dog ownership will impact the grounds. Dogs will have an effect on the lawns and on the shrubs. It isn't fair that non-dog owners should have to pay such costs. Therefore, dog owners should pay a fee to own a dog witin the complex, a fee that is kept & applied strictly for grounds maintenance."

& the fact that most of you guys were complaining about how unhealthy the food was just a few days ago & are now complaining about the fact that their taking too long too sell that same unhealthy food, is kind of annoying.

We have everything in Stuy-town, yet all anyone here ever wants to do is act like spoiled brats. Get over yourselves.

>>the fact that most of you guys were complaining about how unhealthy the food was just a few days ago & are now complaining about the fact that their taking too long too sell that same unhealthy food, is kind of annoying.<<

The fact that you can't see that we are joking about the peanut butter & jelly sandwiches (and certainly don't want to eat them at the Oval Cafe!) is kind of annoying, too.

Love the dog tax idea, although if it were instituted, dog owners might abuse the property even more, thinking they'd paid for the privilege.

I was taking a walk around PCV the other day, checking out the new landscaping. Right in the middle of the path in front of 4 PCR was a fresh pile. I hailed a young guy driving one of the carts and asked him who cleans up such a mess, and he laughed and said, "Not me!" Hilarious. But he said he would report it. Maybe he did.

The same day I talked to the landscaping contractor. Forgot to ask him how the new types of plants being put in stand up to dog urine.

As a dog owner who does follow the rules, let's not be throwing around the idea of a dog tax without also tossing around maybe a kid/child tax or a 20 Something vomiting in the bushes/on the stoop tax or maybe a noisy threesome/foursome/moresome sex noise at all hours of the day or night tax. Because all of those things equally impact the quality of life around here...but hey, that's life in the big city.

I only say this because a lot of the things getting blamed on dogs, such as destroyed landscaping, are not, in fact, being caused by dogs. Did dogs plant and then dig up hundreds of perfectly good trees? Did dogs rip up acres of plush grass and ivy and then not replant it? Did dogs rip up the chains and then permit touch football, frisbee and sunbathing for most of the year? I think not.

Sure...some dog owners need a good smack down, but lets not get carried away here (and peeing on the sidewalk because a dog can't hold its urine until it reaches the border of the property isn't a capital offense).

I don't have a dog, but I am sick of these anti-dog people. I'd rather have a hundred dogs instead of one vomiting, woo-hooing, braying student or screaming brat whose mother thinks the sun shines out of his/her asshole. Very little, if any, damage is caused by dogs, but the filth, squalor, noise and general deterioration of the QOL is definitely done by the two-legged animals who live here. I see the recycling areas overflowing with dirty diapers, greasy pizza boxes, kitchen garbage and all kinds of non-recycleable shit and I don't think the dogs or their owners have much to do with that. I am woken up frequently by screaming, braying assholes who don't have any respect for their neighbors, but I seldom hear a dog barking at night or in the early hours of the morning. I've seen humans squat and take a shit on the grass and urinate against the walls. Don't blame it all on the dogs!

"Sure...some dog owners need a good smack down, but lets not get carried away here (and peeing on the sidewalk because a dog can't hold its urine until it reaches the border of the property isn't a capital offense)."

With all due respect, the majority of dog owners do their dog walking ON the grass, with the explicit purpose of having their dog piss or crap there. This is a fact and everyone here knows it dog owner or not. I have never seen a dog owner attempting to bring their dog to the "border" of the property or even a circular drive. To further confound things, now they have Adam Rose on their side because this behavior is sanctioned.

I don't see the necessity of putting it in any order. Certainly, they all must go and I see no reason they all can't all be addressed simultaneously. I agree however, the dogs must go. We won't be able to address any of this nastiness though until if and when we assume control of the property.

It seems to me that at this point, if this dump remains a rental the dogs will stay. If we can assume ownership then it should come down to a vote(one vote per apartment). If the vote goes to the dogs then they stay, if not, existing dogs would probably have to be grandfathered in for the duration of their lives. It's the only egalitarian way to do this.

What dog owners can't seem to understand is that some people with children used to be able to allow them to play on the grass. Now that the grassy areas have become a toilet, this no longer is possible. this is only one (albeit significant) reason the dogs must go. Sorry, but I'm just not buying that the kids must go too because they make noise.

"Kids were not allowed to play on the grass before dogs were permitted by TS. If they were on the grass they were breaking the rules then in place"

This is just factually incorrect. The chain link fences were taken down way before dogs were allowed. I understand that you will defend your "right" to keep your dog, this is fine, but lets keep our facts straight. Using factually incorrect arguments will get you nowhere.

Hey, "factually incorrect" accusator, post the rules with a verified timeline or let it go. I've been here a lot longer than you. What...were there three weeks when they let your kid romp on the lawn before a dog pooped on it?

Hey, "factually incorrect" accusator, post the rules with a verified timeline or let it go

We all feel your pain but no one wants to revisit it

I'm trying to figure out what the frig you're talking about. What rules? This isn't the NY Times editorial dept. , I don't need to provide timelines. If you're here as long as you say than you know the chains were taken down way longer than dogs allowed, but of course, you have an axe to grind. As far as revisiting pain....I need more time on that one.

"This is just factually incorrect. The chain link fences were taken down way before dogs were allowed. I understand that you will defend your "right" to keep your dog, this is fine, but lets keep our facts straight. Using factually incorrect arguments will get you nowhere."

Met did take them down. I was living here then. I remember them taking them down in summer 2001' just a few weeks before 9/11. No connection, of course! But some timelines stay in your mind because of event that happened around the same time. MetLife still owned then.

So the argument from the dog owners then is that since the chains came down within temporal proximity to dogs being allowed, to hell with the children and anyone else who wants beautiful plantings and gardens, my dog is shitting and pissing there! Is that the best argument you can come up with? I'll give you dogs being allowed BEFORE the chains came down (not true of course) and you're still in the wrong. It really is amazing that you people are arguing to justify your "right" to let your dogs fowl everybody's grounds. I wonder if it's even legal (Rose Associates not withstanding) to do it.

Until There Is Silence No More

The Tenants Association and our councilman Dan Garodnick have mysteriously remained silent about a purported incident that occurred on July 12: the mugging by a group of individuals of someone right by Peter Cooper Village, along 20th Street.

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"We'll be introducing a new process to identify registered dogs thus enabling Public Safety Officers to clearly approach offending dog owners. The registration will hang from the leash handle; clearly identifying the dog as registered.

"If the dog is not registered by May 1; a summons will be issued at the point of contact. If we learn the dog owner is not a resident, they will be escorted off the property."

Rick Hayduk, CEO and General Manager of PCVST. Letter to Barry Shapiro, February 2016.

THINKING of Renting in PCVST?

Read Yelp reviews to find out what it's like living here. Please note: All apartments are currently "rent-stabilized" but that doesn't prevent apartments from going up to 4K to 6K a month and even higher. How does this happen? Ask our politicians! Fact: Now less than half of the complex's apartments have the old rents and it's getting worse year by year--or better if you are the Real Estate Board of New York!

The Other Yelp Reviews

Yelp can be tricky and bounce reviews for a variety of reasons, like being a member and posting just one review. Very often, however, these reviews hold important truths about what's being reviewed. READ THESE TOO.

BICYCLES, MOPEDS, SCOOTERS, ETC.

Of course, "private property" but "public access" - whatever that means! And if a part of it is public access, do the rules of the city apply to our roads and sidewalks? Or does anything give because this complex is "private property"? Who comes here in case of a fire in one of our buildings? The Stuy Town Fire Brigade?

Hint: Look both ways if you are in the complex. Look on the ground, too!

61.03 Control of dogs and other animals to prevent nuisance. (a) A person who owns, possesses or controls a dog, cat or other animal shall not permit the animal to commit a nuisance on a sidewalk of any public place, on a floor, wall, stairway, sidewalk, lawn, garden or roof of any public or private premises used in common by the public, or on a fence, wall [or], stairway or entranceway of a building abutting on a public place

Banned & Oversize Dog Breeds in Stuy Town

Looks like there is some difficulty in enforcing the ban on certain dog breeds allowed inside Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village. Somehow pitbulls and pitbull mixes have been registered in STPCV and are allowed to be freely walked about the grounds! Registered dogs in the complex are max 50 pounds. Total, if there is more than one! More than two, it's illegal. It's going to get worse, and, face it, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village will never be like it once was.

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Read it and Weep

Current Value of ST/PCV

Was 5.4 Billion Dollars when Tishman Speyer bought the place.Became 1.7 Billion Dollars when Tishman Speyer left, with their tail between their legs. Of course, tenants now have to make up the loss.

Ex-landlord

Rob Speyer

1947 Stuy Town Plaque Honoring Met Life Chairman F.H. Ecker (Removed in 2002 and never seen again)

"... who with the vision of experience and the energy of youth conceived and brought into being this project, and others like it, that families of moderate means might live in health, comfort and dignity in park-like communities and that a pattern might be set of private enterprise productively devoted to public service."

I am writing on behalf of everyone at Tishman Speyer to express how honored we are to become part of your outstanding community. We are a business with deep roots in New York, a true love of our city and a great respect for the neighborhoods that make it special. We are committed to maintaining the unique character and environment that have made Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town such a wonderful place to live for so long. We look forward to providing you an extraordinary level of service and attentiveness that will be the source of pride and satisfaction for the entire community.

Neighborhood Recommendations

New to Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village? Here are some basic recommendations.

Best supermarket: Associated on 14th St. between 1st Ave. and Ave A. The cheapest prices, fantastic weekly sales, very affordable lunches; solid, responsive management, but earthy. Some of the young female cashiers have attitude to spare, though. May be too far for Peter Cooper residents.

Best gym: Don't waste your money on the Oval Fitness Gym. Instead go to the earthy but real Asser Levy Recreational Center, right above 23rd St on Asser Levy Place (near the FDR Drive). $75 for a year's membership; seniors are almost free. Contains seasonal indoor and outdoor swimming pools, ping-pong table, two pool tables. Called by some rich people who wouldn't get caught going there "the prison gym," and you know why.

A Stuy Town favorite is Lenz's on 20 St. between the 20 St. Loop. The way New York used to be. Be careful of unwanted "pepper" in your food, however. Lenz's got a B grade rating and was temporarily closed down due to an order from the Health Department. Bruno's on First Avenue is more upscale, with a greater selection of food items (higher-priced, too), but was closed down temporarily by the Health Department. Stuy Town's own cafe was closed, too! And not because of all the dogs that hover and piss outside.

Gracefully has two locations, but we prefer for its size the one on 1st Ave. Prices are high and reflect the new tenants that are currently renting Stuy Town and Peter Cooper apartments. ("Do you have a credit card?") We like Gracefully's lunch specials, which are somewhat affordable.

I priced the CVS on 1st Ave near 14st. The non-aerosol hairspray was 20 cents above CVS' own website price, and one of the highest in NY. (Yes, I have hair.) You can save at least a dollar or more buying at another place. So beware. Look around for a better deal on all your items.

I love warm Quaker Oats in the morning. Gristedes is not the place to get it, nor is Associated, though their price is less. Look around!

Macular Degeneration Support Group

If you are currently diagnosed with Macular Degeneration, the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary is offering a support group for you. Conveniently located next to the Peter Cooper Village Stuyvesant Town apartment complex, our group offers the opportunity to share stories with other members, listen to expert guest speakers, and learn coping strategies to reduce stress. Our group runs on the first Wednesday of every month and we would enjoy seeing you there.
Please contact Baptiste Nicolas, Social Work Assistant at 212-979-4105 for further information and to see if this group is right for you!